Epicurean Concept of the Week – Burrata Cheese

This week’s Epicurean Concept of the week was inspired by our recent trip to the Regent Hotel Brunch in Singapore and by fond memories of a dining experience in Bangkok at Spasso’s. Both meals featured a delight for turophiles – Burrata Cheese.

Burrata Cheese is a luxurious version of the more widely known mozzarella cheese. Burrata is traditionally an artisan cheese crafted from mozzarella and cream. It’s not a super common cheese as it’s best eaten within it’s first 24 hours of life and is considered past it’s prime after a mere 48 hours!

Specifics on the making of Burrata from Wikipedia –

When making Burrata, the still-hot cheese is formed into a pouch, which is then filled with scraps of leftover mozzarella and topped off with fresh cream (panna) before closing. The finished Burrata is traditionally wrapped in the leaves of asphodel, tied to form a little brioche-like topknot, and moistened with a little whey. The asphodel leaves should still be green when the cheese is served, to indicate the cheese’s freshness.

If you ever see it anywhere, be sure to give it a try. The first time I had it was at Spasso’s served as an appetizer. We were close to canceling our food orders and just dining on this cheese with bread and tomatoes…it’s that good. It’s great when eaten in an Insalata caprese or by itself with maybe some oil and bread. I’m obsessed with looking for it these days, asking at every Italian restaurant I dine at.

Any artisan cheeses you love or cheeses in general? Let us know in the comments… always looking to try something new

2 comments

Don’t overlook having Burrata with Parma ham – quite possibly my favourite starter of all time.
Garibaldi’s have some great burrata – which they either serve with parma, cooked vegetables (hmm – might be thinking of il Lido for that one) or figs.
But give me burrata with parma any day of the week.

totally agree…prosciutto di parma with anything is hard to beat : ) I think one of my favourite uses has to be a pizza I first had actually in Bangkok, mascarpone cheese and prosciutto. The mild creaminess with the salty ham is unbeatable and in fact this is probably why yout suggestion of parma with burrata makes so much sense.